Senior official says Jakarta blasts were suicide bombs

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Theo Sambuaga, a senior legislator and chairman of the parliamentary security commission, believes the explosions that ripped two hotels in Jakarta were suicide bomb attacks.

According to Sambuaga, there were indications the blast that killed nine people and wounded about 50 others, was a terrorist attack. Among the 50 wounded were 13 foreigners from the United States, Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Norway and South Korea, was a terrorist attack. On the contrary, Sambuaga did not reveal further information and left the matter with investigators. He admitted that a New Zealander was among those killed. Although there were no initial claims of responsibility for the explosion, terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said he believes the international terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah was the main perpetrator of the attack.